Surprise visit

[alotbluer]

Tobey liked to catch her off guard it seemed, or rather liked to just show up whenever he could. She never knew when he was coming, not until she would get a knock on her door, just like right now. He waited for her to open the door and grinned when he saw her.

"Hey, beautiful."

Comments

[shelbycobra]

Shelby was surprised to hear the knock at her door but it was a welcome one. She couldn't shake the bad feeling she had about this race weekend, and even though she had qualifying in the morning, the apprehension remained. And Shelby knew her instincts were always to be trusted. So seeing Tobey was a pleasant surprise, something good and safe and familiar that would push that out of her head.

"Hey, you. I didn't know you were in St. Louis. Come on in."

[alotbluer]

Tobey could tell she had some worries, and he was glad he had decided to show up. He smiled gently and walked in and looked around before greeting her with a hug.

"I like surprising you."

[shelbycobra]

"You've done that a lot over the last four years."

She chuckled and hugged him back. Sometimes it still surprised her that they had known each other that long. But she figured he might have been traveling awhile and ushered him toward the couch in her hotel room, hanging up his jacket for him.

"Sit down, make yourself comfortable," she said before she nodded toward the mini fridge. "Can I get you anything to drink? And you can tell me what's going on with you."

She'd avoid talking about her day unless he called her out on it.

[alotbluer]

If anything Tobey knew her well enough that she needed a distraction for a bit before she talked about her day. He pat the spot beside him with a big smile.

"Water if you got it. I just finished up a race nearby so knew where you were and stopped by."

[shelbycobra]

She grabbed two bottles of water out of the mini-fridge and came to sit down beside him. He'd not be surprised by what he saw there anyway; notes and race reports were carefully stacked on the table where she'd left them before going to bed.

"Well yeah we're not exactly quiet when we go anywhere. Just another three weeks and it'll all be done, and then I have a nice week in Florida planned. I'm going to go do stupid tourist crap."

[alotbluer]

"Now that sounds like fun."

He took the bottle of water and smiled as he relaxed, draping an arm around her and drew her closer and kissed her temple.

[shelbycobra]

"It will be, if the next three weeks go well."

Shelby knew herself and knew she needed that week after the season alone to decompress. At the same time, if she screwed up and let the season slip away, she also knew she'd spend that week brooding.

"It's really good to see you, Tobey," she said curling up next to him. "I always feel like we don't see enough of each other since I left. Although that might be because we saw so much of each other when I was crashing at your place."

[alotbluer]

"Wouldn't want you getting tired of seeing me."

He smirked and took a drink of his water. He looked at her and kissed the tip of her nose . He was one of her biggest supporters.

"They'll go well."

[shelbycobra]

"Hey, let's not count our chickens before they hatch, here."

Shelby laughed softly. She had a 202-point lead going into the final three races of the season, but there were still more than 150 points on offer, so she was aware that what seemed like a huge margin could easily be erased. She needed at least two good weekends to feel comfortable.

"How are things back home?"

[alotbluer]

"I'm not counting on the chickens, just have faith in you."

He gave her a smile and kissed the top of her head affectionately. He did have faith in her abilities so he would be optimistic for her.

"Things are well just the same really."

He chuckled softly because things generally stayed the same for him. Of course he doesn't always share everything, when it comes to financials he kind of hid that part from people.

[shelbycobra]

"You gotta mix things up a bit, Tobey. Things for you could be so much bigger than they are."

Shelby was sure of that, she knew he deserved much more than he had. And she wanted that for him after all the kindness he'd shown her when he'd learned how bad things were for her. She'd gotten by because of him, and now she hoped the universe would recognize that.

"I wish there was something I could do for you."